Frozen Chains

Chapter 18

"Jay, calm down! Breathe, okay? I need you to take deep breaths!" Tooth cried. 

Jay was curled on his side, his hands clutched over his right eye, sobbing. There was blood everywhere. He shook violently, tremors wracking his entire body, gasping, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth. 

What do I do? I've dealt with anything this serious!  Tooth thought frantically. 

"North...?!" Tooth said weakly. He shrugged, eyes wide.

"I do not know, Toothy. We have never seen anything like this before." North murmured. 

"Oh. Okay. Um, oh my God. Oh my God." Tooth moaned. She took a deep breath, laying a hand on Jay's hair, smoothing it down. "Relax, Jay. It's over. It's all over. Everything is going to be okay. You will never have to go through anything like that ever again, I promise. You're going to be okay."

Jay was still shaking, faint sobs and whimpers coming from behind his hands. His breathing was heavy and ragged with pain.

After putting the mask over Jack's nose and mouth, Bunny joined them on the other side of the room, his fists clenched tightly. Fury rolled in his emerald eyes.

"I know it hurts. It'll pass, I promise. It won't hurt anymore soon." Tooth lied, "North? Can you get me the pain killer?"

North passed her a small cup. Tooth held it in her hand wondering how she was going to go about this. Jay was in too much pain to move and he had his hands weakly but firmly placed over his eye.

"I need you to drink this. It will help, okay? It'll make some of the pain go away." She promised.

Jay didn't reply, only let out a very shaky breath and a poorly contained whine.

Tooth put her hand carefully at his chin, tilting his head up ever so slightly. Jay cringed and whimpered, trying to pull away, but was too weak to do so.

"Move your hands, alright?" She asked, but Jay gave a weak sob in reply, tensing. "It won't hurt; you just have to drink this. You've had it before, and it won't hurt you. None of us would ever give you anything that would be harmful to you in any way."

Jay still didn't move, keeping his hands over the right side of his face.

Okay... Now what? I don't want to hurt him...

"Bunny, I need your help again." Tooth murmured.

"L-look, Sheila, I can't. I already told ya, I can't fix people, especially not people with injuries like that!" Bunny cried frantically.

"You have to do it, my friend." North said, "My hands are too big, and Sandy... " His voice trailed off, filled with grief.

"What? What happened to Sandy?" Tooth asked, panicking.

Bunny gave a mournful look to the pile of gold sand in the corner. Tooth felt rage leap up inside her, threatening to destroy her. How could Pitch have done this? How could he have killed a Guardian and hurt a teenage boy, all for fun and revenge?

Tooth swallowed her anger, whispering. "North is right. He can't do it and neither can the S-Sandman, so you're the only one who can help me with this!"

Bunny looked away. "What do I need to do?"

"Just move his hands so I can give him this and looked at his eye." She said it quietly, hoping not to scare Jay, but he must have heard because he gave a choked whimper, shuddering.

Bunny moved slowly, taking Jay's hands in his soft paws, pulling them carefully away from his face. Jay kept his eyes completely shut, biting his lip so hard that he broke through the stitches again, a shiver running through his body.

Tooth took advantage of the momentary surprise, pouring the contents of the cup into Jay's mouth. He swallowed, coughing slightly.

She needed to actually see his eye, but Tooth knew for a fact he wouldn't willingly open it and let her see. She didn't want to see.

But this wasn't about her.

"Put him back in the Velcro, Bunny." Tooth said, already strapping down Jay's wrist. He winced at her touch.

After tying down his ankles and wrists, Tooth tried to prepare herself. She had to do this. It didn't matter that she wasn't comfortable with it, because this was for Jay. He needed this.

That was a good enough reason.

Before Tooth's fake courage failed her, she quickly used her forefinger and thumb to force Jay's eye open. As soon as she did, she wished she didn't.

His eye socket was empty, the flesh bloody and shredded, tinged pink and red. Odd clumps of ragged flesh clung to the sides.

Jay screamed in pain, writhing against the Velcro, struggling against her.

"Get me some water!" Tooth cried, "Hurry!"

Someone handed her a cup of water, which she poured into Jay's eye socket, flushing the blood out. She released him immediately, trying to block the sounds of his groans and screams of pain out of her head. 

That was probably the hardest thing she had ever done.

"Bandages," She whispered.

Bunny passed her a roll of white bandages. Tooth gently put a hand on the back of Jay's head, elevating it slightly. Jay cried out in pain, gasping with fear.

"Shhh, it's only me." Tooth whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Jay whimpered as she wound the bandages around his head, angling it slightly so that it covered the damaged eye but left the other one able to see.

When she was done, Jay withdrew immediately, turning his head to the side as far as it would go. 

"Crikey... " Bunny muttered. North looked down at his feet.

Tooth got onto the bed, settling herself behind Jay and letting his head fall onto her lap. She stroked his hair gently. At first, Jay panicked, trying to get away and free himself, but after a few moments, he went limp.

"It's over now. It's over. You never ever  have to do anything like that again, not for the rest of your life. Except for your leg and e-eye, you're nearly healed. You'll be able to walk around soon, and you won't ever have to hurt again. Won't you like that?" Tooth asked, smiling though her heart hurt.

Jay didn't reply to her, though his remaining eye started to close. He was probably exhausted.

"You're okay now. Everything's okay," She murmured, "You're going to be fine."

As Jay finally drifted off to sleep, Tooth continued to run her fingers through his hair, wondering if she had been lying the whole time.

***

OMG, I AM SO SORRY! MY MIND IS EVIL AND TWISTED AND DARK! 

Seriously, I never intended for the last chapter to go as far as it did, it just sort of... escalated. It was an accident, I swear! O_o

And as for this chapter...

SHAME ON ME! 

Things are gonna get better in a couple chapters, though, I promise! *Crosses fingers behind back* Hehehehe!

Luvies!

~I_Love_Jack_Frost_13